Leadership: the Global Views of Public Managers

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers

• Robert C. Myrtle, DPA
• Director, Executive Master of Leadership
• Professor of Public Administration,
• Professor of Gerontology

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• What are the competencies of a highly effective
  public leader from a Taiwanese perspective?
• Do public managers in Taiwan identify different
  competencies of effective leaders than their
  public sector counterparts in the United States?
• Which of these competencies have been important
  to your success as a leader and as a manager?

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• The goals of this presentation are
• To describe what Taiwanese and American public
  managers identify as the behaviors and
  characteristics of outstanding leaders in public
  sector organizations.
• To compare these behaviors and characteristics
  with the behaviors and characteristics identified
  by the largest study of leaders world wide.
• To identify the behaviors and characteristics
  that all effective leaders possess.
• To note how effective leaders adapt these to
  different national contexts.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Understanding the differences in the views of
  public managers working in Taiwan and the United
  StatesA point of departure.
• ___ public sector managers in Taiwan and ___
  public sector manager in the United States were
  asked to complete a leadership survey drawn from
  the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational
  Behavior Effectiveness) study.
• These findings will be used to highlight the
  behaviors and characteristics associated with
  highly effective public sector leaders.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• If you were asked for your definition of
  leadership, what would you say?
• Take a moment to list 3 characteristics or
  behaviors that you believe are associated with
  highly effective public leaders.
• If you were asked why would anyone want to be
  led by you, what would you say?
• Take a moment to list 3 reasons people would give
  as to why they would want to be led by you.
• We will return to these two questions after some
  background on the global leadership study

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• The GLOBE Study
• Involved 170 researchers.
• Took 10 years to do.
• Surveyed over 17,000 managers in 62 different
  countries.
• Examined the relationship between cultural
  influences, leadership behaviors and competencies
  and leadership effectiveness
• Identified 6 universally perceived leadership
  attributes that are contributors to or inhibitors
  of outstanding leadership

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• GLOBE Core Leadership Dimensions
• Charismatic/Value-Based the ability to inspire,
  motivate and expect high performance outcomes
  based on core beliefs and values.
• Team-Oriented the emphasis placed on effective
  team-building and the implementation of of common
  purpose among team members.
• Self-Protective A focus on the safety and
  security of the manager.
• Participative the degree to which managers
  involve others in the making and implementation
  of decisions.
• Humane-Oriented the degree of emphasis on
  supportive and considerate behaviors.
• Autonomous the degree to which the manager
  focuses on individualistic and independent
  action.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers

• Global Leader One who has the skills and
  abilities to interact with and manage people from
  diverse cultural backgrounds
• Characteristics of a global leader Cosmopolitan,
  skilled at intercultural communication,
  culturally sensitive, and capable of rapid
  acculturation
• Global Leader Characteristics
• Knowledgeable about cultural and institutional
  influences on management
• Facilitator of subordinates intercultural
  performance
• A user of cultural synergy
• A promoter and user of the growing world culture
• A commitment to continuous improvement in
  self-awareness and renewal

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• How do Taiwanese and American Public Managers
  compare on the GLOBE Leadership dimensions?

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• What is leadership anyhow?
• One definition of leadership is Leadership is
  involves the creation an environment where people
  feel empowered to do their best in the pursuit of
  important organizational goals.
• Effective leaders create motivational visions,
  collaboratively establish challenging goals and
  objectives, provide the necessary resources and
  support so that their team members can excel and
  mentor, coach and model the behaviors, attitudes
  and values that are embedded in the vision and
  the goals of the organization.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• What are the characteristics of highly effective
  public managers?

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Factors Affecting the Effectiveness of Leaders

• Attributes, Qualities, Traits
• Has integrity
• Is positive, dynamic and encouraging
• Authentic to their own
• personality
• Takes responsibility
• Treats everyone fairly
• Admits their mistakes
• Build community
• Has a vision
• Is an excellent communicator

• Behaviors, Actions
• Clarifies roles and responsibilities
• Manages conflict
• Performance Oriented
• Decisive
• Develop their people
• Direct, explain,
• show and teach
• Encourage, coach
• Involve, engage
• Delegate, manage
• by exception

Dr. Robert C. Myrtle University of Southern
California
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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• What did you identify as the factors associated
  with people wanting to be led by you?

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Most people want
• A leader who listens to me in an effort to
  understand.
• A leader who appreciates the challenges I face in
  doing my job.
• A leader who keeps me informed in what is
  happening in our unit and in the organization at
  large
• A leader who sees the big picture, anticipates
  changes and works with us to develop strategies
  to respond.
• A leader who is just, fair and does what he or
  she say they will do.
• A leader with passion for their job, for the
  people they serve and for the employees who work
  for them.
• A leader who is interested in working with us to
  create the work unit that others admire.
• A leader is committed to my development as a
  person, as an employee, as a professional and as
  a civil servant.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• What contributes to the development of the global
  views of public managers?

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Global Leaders
• Have a knowledge of how their organization is
  impacted by the dynamics in the global community
• Appreciates and supports cultural and gender
  egalitarianism.
• Skilled at intercultural communication.
• Fosters a respect for the differences in people
  and their cultures.
• Uses social and cultural uniquenesses to improve
  organizational functioning.
• Excels in the development of partnerships and
  interorganizational relationships
• Able to create and sustain partnerships and
  alliances
• Capacity to manage relationships that builds
  trust and understanding.
• A capacity to ensure results through shared, in
  contrast with hierarchical, leadership
• Thrives in a technologically dynamic environment.
• Adjust their leadership styles to fit different
  situations by understanding what local managers
  do to lead successfully in their own country
  while remaining true to their core values as a
  person and as a leader.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• How can you become a better leader in a global
  environment?
• Four critical building blocks
• Building block 1 Knowing your self
• Building block 2 Knowing your team
• Building block 3 Knowing your organization
• Building block 4 Knowing the world
• The Leadership Competency Profile on the
  following slide might point out areas for
  improvement as a leader excelling in a global
  environment

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development
Leadership Dimension Not a Strength Sufficient A Strength
1 Awareness of trends long before they impact the organization.
2 Ability to explain organizations purpose to a stranger.
3 Knowledge of the most important concern of each person I lead.
4 I regularly seek feedback about myself from others.
5 I spend time getting to know each person I lead.
6 I have a broad network of contacts that provides me with information on emerging trends affecting the organization.
7 People say I am passionate when I talk to others about my organization.
8 I know my weaknesses.
9 I can explain how my organizations capabilities differ from other similar organizations.
10 I am actively working on improving one aspect of myself.
11 I know how each group in the organization affects the work of other groups.
12 I could list the top capabilities of every person I lead.
13 I scan the environment for developments that could pose a risk or threat to my organization
14 I know what people spend most of their time on.
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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Which of the four critical building blocks are
  your strengths and which might deserve
  development?
• Building block 1 Knowing your self (Q4, Q8 and
  Q10).
• Building block 2 Knowing your team (Q3, Q5, Q12,
  and Q14).
• Building block 3 Knowing your organization (Q2,
  Q7,Q9, and Q11).
• Building block 4 Knowing the world (Q1,Q6, and Q
  13).

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Some closing thoughts on the leadership
  competencies of effective public managers in a
  global environment.
• Universal Facilitators of Leadership
  Effectiveness
• Being trustworthy, just and honest.
• Having foresight and planning ahead.
• Being positive, dynamic, encouraging, motivating
  and building confidence in people you lead.
• Universal Impediments to Leadership Effectiveness
• Being a loner and asocial.
• Being non-cooperative and irritable.
• Being dictatorial
• Culturally Contingent Influences on Leadership
  Effectiveness
• Being individualistic.
• Being status conscious.
• Being a risk-taker.

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Questions?
• Comments?Reactions?

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Leadership the Global Views of Public Managers
Dr Robert C. Myrtle School of Policy, Planning,
and Development

• Thanks!